New Skywatcher Allview Multi-Function Computerised Mount.

[docsimple]

Thanks Ian. I'm digging into the controls now. Once I had traversed the 7 stages of grief I reached acceptance. Realistically I bought what I could afford and that would have barely made a dent in a good German EQ so what the hay, have some fun

I had pretty much reached a conclusion similar to what you are saying. Learn something, than get picky. Or not. I'm a bit of a techy so I think once I get used to this I feel comfortable that mastery is not far away. To be clear, I mean mastery of the SynSCan controller, not all the rest lol.

I went ahead and bought that book. Looked like an exact fit for my current sitch and added this as well:

Getting Started: Budget Astrophotography

by Allan Hall

I had seen some of the shots in the no EQ challenge and that gave me hope. From this point forward I'm sure I iwll be flogging this board for more information. The reward for a job well done? More work of course :0

[The Admiral]

I'm glad that you have stuck with it (so far ), and don't forget that there's plenty of help available on this site.

If you're heading out into the desert you should be getting nice dark skies, so armed with your camera and mount you could end up with some very nice shots. Don't forget to take a plentiful supply of AA batteries (or a fully charged tank battery) !

Good luck.

Ian

[docsimple]

8 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

I'm glad that you have stuck with it (so far ), and don't forget that there's plenty of help available on this site.

If you're heading out into the desert you should be getting nice dark skies, so armed with your camera and mount you could end up with some very nice shots. Don't forget to take a plentiful supply of AA batteries (or a fully charged tank battery) !

Good luck.

Ian

Thanks Ian, knowing there are answers available to my questions makes it easier to accomplish these goals. Also I have the batteries rocking during setup but my battery tank should be here Saturday.

That's another thing. I went bonkers on the accessories. Once I decide on a telescope I will have this maxed out. All the pieces parts get expensive too! Realistically, I'm happy. I get to play and I get to head to the desert and hope the sudden mess that is the northwest doesn't follow.

I started a thread in the noob section to get input on the scope to use. Hopefully I can get info for what works best.